Before we dive into this weeks pull list, I just wanna give a quick shout out to Taco Bell and their new fries. These are way better than they should be and I feel awful eating them at midnight while I finish this up, but man, they’re great.

ANYWAY! This week was a light one but in all honesty, I kinda love weeks like this because it gives me time to really dive into what I read. I picked up my normal pull of Moon Knight this week but ended up adding Hungry Ghosts to the list when I found out it was being released. There are some spoilers ahead so please read with caution!

 

 

SERIOUSLY.

THERE’S A COUPLE SPOILERS BELOW.

DON’T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ YOUR BOOKS YET.

 

Moon Knight  #191
Max Bemis and Jacen Burrows
Marvel Comics

I really want to like this comic because I love the Moon Knight character thanks to Jeff Lemire, but I’m having issues sinking into this story like I did before. I know I shouldn’t but it’s really hard not to compare the two, especially when it references the last storyline. The writing is lackluster and usually inserts comedy into situations that don’t call for it and it feels incredibly forced or goes for cliche tropes of surprise children. I think the Moon Knight character deserves way more than this considering how complex the story of Marc Spector is and if you think about it, you have so much to work with considering he has multiple personalities. I’d just really love to see more development with the story but I don’t think we’ll see that here. I wish I could say that the art makes up for it but it’s nothing to write home about. Burrows does a fine job but it’s hard to compare to the amazing work Greg Smallwood and Jordie Bellaire did with Jeff Lemire. Nothing catches my eye or makes me want to sit and study the pages and that’s something I’ve come to love about Moon Knight. It’s such a complex and intricate character that I think it should be handled by someone who really gets that and can exploit the multiple personalities to weave a great story. I’m going to keep on with this book for now, but it’s been kind of a disappointment after the second issue.

Hungry Ghosts #1
Anthony Bourdain with Joel Rose and Alberto Ponticelli
Dark Horse Comics – Berger Books

It’s only January but I have a feeling this mini series will end up on my Best Of list for 2018. Anthony Bourdain, who for years has been a celebrated chef and author, has recently taken to comics over the last 5 years with tales of Jiro and now Hungry Ghosts. The story starts out at an expensive dinner of well off socialites and cuts to a kitchen full of chefs who will be the center of the story. After the dinner concludes, the host asks the chefs to step out into the dining room to accept their praises and then segways into an after dinner game he calls Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai or the Game of 1,000 Candles. The game involves lighting 100 tea candles in a room and the chefs begin telling horror stories in hopes of invoking a supernatural entity at the ending of the 100 stories. Once each person tells a story, they go look at themselves in the mirror after blowing out their candle. This issue only has two quick stories but if this is any indication of where we’re going with this then I cannot wait to finish out the next three issues. The storytelling is Bourdain in a nutshell and it’s refreshing to see someone write from a cooks perspective who has actually lived that life. The art is wonderful and really carries the tone of the book for me. Shouts out to Ponticelli for that little Marco Pierre White nod when introducing the different chefs, that was a nice touch.

That is it for this weeks pull! Check back next week where I’ll talk about how great Batman is and why you should be reading the Snagglepuss comic!

Next week:
Batman
Batman: White Knight
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles
Paper Girls